Ottawa Fire Service demonstrates latest in firefighting

Ottawa Fire Services Chief Peter McBride was in Mirabel, Que., on Wednesday to lead a $4-million effort to apply the latest science and technology to firefighting.

An international team of researchers set three structures on fire, and firefighters from Ottawa, Montreal and Mirabel used techniques, informed by a modern understanding of fire dynamics, to douse them.

Some of the techniques are counterintuitive.

In one case, a fire was set in the living room of a small, empty bungalow. With the front windows of the bungalow wide open, and the living room engulfed, firefighters deployed a powerful fan to the back door of the bungalow and directed a massive flow of air into the building.

Why would firefighters intentionally add oxygen to a fire?

Peter McBride, Ottawa’s division chief of safety and innovation, said the technique, known as a positive pressure attack, forces smoke and heat out the open windows, and provides firefighters with a safe corridor to attack the fire with water.

“It means firefighters are not standing in smoke that can light up around them. They won’t be in the heat,” explained McBride, who served as project manager for this week’s series of fire experiments.

The three test fires conducted Wednesday were recorded on cameras and measured by heat sensors. The responses of firefighters were videotaped for instructional purposes.

All of the material will form part of a new firefighting curriculum being developed by the National Fire Protection Association.

The curriculum, which is to be introduced across Canada next year, is designed to provide firefighters with an up-to-date understanding of fire dynamics, and to equip them with strategies for identifying and attacking different kinds of fires.

Another of Wednesday’s test burns saw firefighters set a mattress on fire in a second-floor bedroom of a two-storey home. In the past, firefighters would try to put out such a blaze by dragging hoses into the house to pour water directly on the fire.

Ottawa Fire Services lead an international training exercise in Mirabel, Quebec, as part of a project that is leading the way in safety and innovation for firefighting. Using advanced techniques firefighters battled blazes in various structures that were set on fire in a controlled fashion.Wayne Cuddington

Conventional wisdom held that sending water through an open window would “push” the fire into other parts of a house.

But fire research has shown that a narrow stream of water directed through a window can significantly improve conditions inside a burning house. During the demonstration fire, firefighters directed the stream off the ceiling of the bedroom in a strategy known as a transitional attack.

“It’s like a big sprinkler when it hits the ceiling,” explained McBride. “It throws water in all directions, drops the temperature in that compartment and makes it easier for the fire department to get up there, instead of trying to fight our way up there.”

In the final experiment of the day, firefighters used a new piece of technology, known as a PyroLance, to douse a fire in a hard-to-reach attic. The PryroLance — it looks like a giant pressure washer — blasts water and crushed granite in a powerful stream that can cut through wood and steel.

In the test, the PyroLance was used to quickly bore a hole in the floor of a burning attic. The device then sprayed a fine, high-pressure mist that knocked down the flames.

The experiments, funded largely by the federal government’s Canadian Safety and Security Program, will inform a new curriculum for Canadian firefighters.

McBride said the new curriculum will give firefighters the tools they need to deal safely with the modern fire environment. Today’s fires tend to burn faster, hotter and produce more smoke because of the synthetic materials found in most homes.

New houses tightly sealed for energy efficiency can also be hazardous to arriving firefighters who introduce oxygen to a smouldering fire as soon as they open a door or window.

“It becomes a bit of an Easy-Bake Oven if you’re on the wrong side of it,” McBride said.

Montreal Fire Services Division Chief Gordon Routley, who has been a firefighter for 47 years, said he was taught to get down low, and pour water on a fire at close range. He marvelled at how science has changed his profession.

“Up until the last few years, the philosophy has always been to try to get inside, attack from the inside, and try to push the fire out,” he said. “We’ve been taught from Day 1 that if you apply water from the outside, you’ll push the fire through the interior of the building, and make conditions impossible for anyone inside. But science has shown that’s not the case.”

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.